Wave Garden is a music project created by Daniel Floyd Thompson, a Sound Production student based in Edinburgh. A few scrap songs sitting around doing nothing would materialise into album in 2020, and since then the aim has been to release at least one album every year. I have no idea what happened in 2023, I went balistic and wonder why I burned out. Meh.
The main focussed genre with Wave Garden is electronic music, with elements of electric guitar and some acoustic samples. The music is particularly experimental, with more focus on creating something unique and interesting above catchy or chart-worthy. Of course that's a terrible idea for business, but you can't learn to create popular music without trying something new. The aim of this project is less so to become popular or famous, and more to demonstrate skills and techniques developing over time. You should be able to start with Wave Garden's first album, and as you hear songs from each following release you can hear both the writing and production improve. It's very much a documented history of how somebody's sound production skills can improve with time.
If you enjoy the music Wave Garden has to offer, consider buying an album from Bandcamp to support the project and spread the word. The more people that can contribute their opinions and thoughts, the more Wave Garden can evolve and adapt over time. Of course bearing in mind that Dan is a student, and as of 2024/2025 is doing a degree which is very demanding. Still, minimum 1 album per year. I promise.
Electronic music is pretty much the easiest music to make at home. In a practical sense at least. My DAW of choice is Logic Pro X, running on a 2014 MacBook Pro which I cherish and hate at the same time. Not a fan of Mac computers. I've also experimented with Ableton but I found it was only really good for very segmented tracks or dance stuff. Logic has always been my preference.
For guitar parts I use a Westone Spectrum DX which was gifted to me several years ago. I directly connect it to a Scarlett Solo interface because it works. I would use something fancier but I'm a student, I'm not made of money. Also still living at home so recording a guitar amp isn't too practical. There are no plans currently to introduce vocals, though it's not off the table entirely. Should I do that I'll likely use microphones at my college, or wait until I can buy a decent microphone suited for vocals. I've been known to use a Yamaha EZ-200 as a MIDI device from time to time. If I can be lazy and use the MacBook keyboard I will, but sometimes you need to use a proper musical keyboard to get the job done.
As for the method behind how I compose music, it's very randomised. Sometimes I start with a drum loop, or a sequence of chords. The one constant is that it never turns out anything like I imagine it going in my head. Usually I'll have an idea based around a short loop of music and I'll try and bring that idea to life, and by the end the song is always completely different. Very rarely do I start working on a song that sticks to a set direction.
I've got quite a range of influences, as you can imagine. One big general influence is the 80s as a whole, from the production to style. If I had the confidence/patience I would write New Wave or synth-pop music but it's not my strong suit at the moment.
As for specific bands or artists, I'd say my three biggest influences are Pink Floyd, Jean-Michel Jarre, and Kraftwerk. Pink Floyd are part of the reason I got into making music, and when I realised re-creating the sound of a 4-piece progressive rock band with a MacBook and a guitar was a little difficult, I opted for a more electronic sound which took influence elsewhere. In more recent times I've also taken some influence from YMO, Leftfield, Daft Punk and many other electronic acts.
Hah- oh you're serious. See in the music world you can only really get gigs in places if you have a label, know somebody in a venue, or at the very least have royalty rights set up in the right places so the live music rights reach you. Not only do I not have any of that, but I'm just not well-known enough. So I've never bothered practising doing live sets or arranging anything. That's not to say it'll never happen of course, but don't expect it anytime soon.
All my album artwork is edited in Paint.net. It's easy, simple, has loads of plugins out there, it's great. As for the subject matter I edit, it varies greatly. There's been a focus on using real-world images since Atoms of Sound (with the exception of Cerebration, which was entirely shot in Garry's Mod, the same game which the background for Atoms of Sound was also shot) and those real-world images are manipulated in Paint.net. Electric Spirit for example is an image of the building I live in, which was edited to make it more surreal. Daytrip is an image of me in a shopping centre, and Technology was an image taken at my brother's flat.
The most important part about the album covers for Wave Garden is trying to capture some sense of surreality or liminality.
Actually, yes! A handful of my friends have helped Wave Garden in a number of ways behind the scenes. You can see who and what down below:
Copyright Wave Garden Music 2024